Seamus Blackley, recognized as the creator of Xbox, has shared a memory on Twitter of the times he revealed the project of a console built by Microsoft with EA Canada.
Curiously enough, EA Canada’s boss at the time was Don Mattrick, who would become years later the head of Xbox.
Blackley said that during the meeting Mattrick claimed he didn’t have any faith in the possibility of Microsoft’s success in gaming.
He even tried and stopped the Windows giant’s effort in the business, ultimately failing since the team at Xbox was quite convinced about what it was doing.
“I’ve never talked about this before, but the irony of Don Mattrick as Xbox Chief was huge for me,” Blackley recalled on Twitter.
“When I first came to EA Canada to present the idea of a Microsoft console, he nearly blocked me from addressing the company because he didn’t believe it was possible. It was tense.”
Looking at how things have ended up, it seems that was yet another wrong call by Mattrick, who is now known for the disastrous launch of Xbox One and a joint at Zynga shortly after.
Blackley also commented the quote “we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity; it’s called Xbox 360” the former EA Canada boss provided when asked about the always online DRM that Xbox One was supposed to have at launch.
“That hurt me to hear. I always felt that we were partners with Xbox gamers. We had to stick together to make it work,” he said, sharing the original philosophy behind the project.
It feels like, based on that vision, that Xbox is in the right hands right now with Phil Spencer, one who sure enough has faith in the project and clearer ideas about where to lead the brand in the future.
I’ve never talked about this before, but the irony of Don Mattrick as Xbox Chief was huge for me: when I first came to EA Canada to present the idea of a Microsoft console, he nearly blocked me from addressing the company because he didn’t believe it was possible. It was tense. pic.twitter.com/3pqRq4rGBL
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) 4 marzo 2019
